Q&A with WeaKnees about replacing an internal hard drive

[Throckmorton]

In another thread (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=2234557#post2234557):

Personally, I think it would be much more interesting to email Weaknees and ask what their official position is on DirecTV DVRs modified by them.
Actually, I did that as well.

Question:
All 3 of my DVRs are leased. What happens when they go back?

Does having you upgrade them violate my lease agreement?

Answer:
In the vast majority of the cases, DirecTV never asks for the leased units back. They seem to only ask for them if you cancel your DirecTV service.

As far as we know, the upgrade doesn't violate any lease terms.

Question:
Okay, what about if one needs to be replaced due to failure? I know they send a "recovery kit" if that happens.

Answer:
Then we would typically move the upgrade drive to the replacement unit. There would be a fee after 90 days. But that's really pretty rare.

[The Merg]

Wow. Talk about stepping around the question. So they move the drive to the replacement unit. And how does the drive get out of the old unit. I suppose you need to send in the replacement and the defective unit, they do the swap, mail both back to you and then you return the defective one. Of course, you have to do this all before the non-return fee is charged to you for not getting back the defective receiver quick enough.

Then there's also the situation where a tech has come out and decides to replace the receiver. I'd love to try explaining to them that they can't take the old one since you have a 2TB drive in it. Or the case that you are having an HR23 replaced with an HR21 and when swapping in the drive from the HR21 to the HR23 after yours is removed that the HR23 now has a 320GB drive instead of the 500GB drive it is supposed to have.

I also like how they state that DirecTV rarely requests the defective receivers to be returned.

- Merg

[dsw2112]

Maybe I'm just ignorant on this issue, but why replace the internal drive when you can add an external via USB? Seems like a lot of trouble to go through unless I'm missing an added benefit here...

[Ken S]

Maybe I'm just ignorant on this issue, but why replace the internal drive when you can add an external via USB? Seems like a lot of trouble to go through unless I'm missing an added benefit here...

The external drives that work with the HR2x series are eSATA not USB....not a problem just different.

There have been reported problems with the eSATA connectivity. It's not really supported by DirecTV and there have also been compatability issues with various eSATA controllers.

There's also the issue of having to have another box by your DVR with separate power requirements.

Some people just think replacing the internal drive (which takes about 10 minutes) is just a cleaner solution.

[cartrivision]

Maybe I'm just ignorant on this issue, but why replace the internal drive when you can add an external via USB? Seems like a lot of trouble to go through unless I'm missing an added benefit here...

Several reasons.....


Directv doesn't officially support either way of upgrading to a larger disk, so that's not a reason to go external.

An internal replacement is more likely to work in the first place since there are many reports that certain models of external disks don't work at all, but I have never heard of an internal one that didn't work.

An internal disk replacement doesn't need the space outside of the DVR for the disk enclosure and external power supply.

An internal disk replacement doesn't suffer from the risk that the external one does of the eSATA cable or power cable being knocked loose and disabling the disk.

[Mike Bertelson]

Maybe I'm just ignorant on this issue, but why replace the internal drive when you can add an external via USB? Seems like a lot of trouble to go through unless I'm missing an added benefit here...Atually that would be via the eSATA port. The only thing the USB port is used for is the AM21...for now anyway.

I use the eSATA drive and have for over a year.

No problems. :D

Mike

[rudeney]

Several reasons.....


Directv doesn't officially support either way of upgrading to a larger disk, so that's not a reason to go external.

An internal replacement is more likely to work in the first place since there are many reports that certain models of external disks don't work at all, but I have never heard of an internal one that didn't work.

An internal disk replacement doesn't need the space outside of the DVR for the disk enclosure and external power supply.

An internal disk replacement doesn't suffer from the risk that the external one does of the eSATA cable or power cable being knocked loose and disabling the disk.


It also saves some electricity, because even with the external drive connected, the internal drive continues to run.

I really really wish that D* would come out with a new DVR design with an easy access panel for replacing the internal drive and allow that to be done by the user. Maybe they could even supply DVR's with no drive at all so it;s always up to the user to supply it. The SATA connection standard makes plugging in a hard drive about as simple as plugging in a toaster. This isn't rocket science!

[cartrivision]

It also saves some electricity, because even with the external drive connected, the internal drive continues to run.

I really really wish that D* would come out with a new DVR design with an easy access panel for replacing the internal drive and allow that to be done by the user. Maybe they could even supply DVR's with no drive at all so it;s always up to the user to supply it. The SATA connection standard makes plugging in a hard drive about as simple as plugging in a toaster. This isn't rocket science!

Yes, they could easily do like what is done on laptop computers where there is a drawer compartment that has two screws that can be removed, and the drawer slides out with the disk so that you can easily pop the disk out and pop a new disk into the drawer and slide it back in... all without opening up the case of the laptop.